I'll cross my fingers that your house doesn't look like mine does after dh has had all the kids. Dh has all 4 of our kids every Saturday while i'm at work. I leave a fairly tidy house and come home to it looking like a bomb went off every single week ! and then he can't figure out why i'm so angry when I walk in the door.

I will say that he is brave enough to take all 4 of them to a restaurant by himself though, which I refuse to try. give me grocery shopping any day...that's easy to me...but the idea of trying to control 4 of them at a restaurant and get in a meal for myself too...yikes! I think it's the idea of them being on best behavior, not that they're hellions or anything because meals at home by myself are no biggie.

I do try to escape periodically and leave him with them when i'm not at work . It's my "payback" for him being gone out of state most of the week for work and leaving me to fend for myself with them

Wow-- all these "my husbands can't take care of my kids and house post" make me realize that I actually married a man that is a co-parent and not just another child. I am going to have to thank him when he gets home from work tonight.

My husband can watch all our kids, clean the house, take them shopping, whatever needs to be done. He cooks supper on the nights he is home. He took them all--6 year old, 4 year old, and a 6 month old to Costco. He is home with them at least every Monday while i work. I can easily leave the house for however long I need to without giving DH a single instruction on how to care for our kids. He can thaw BM from the freezer if he needs to feed that baby a bottle or he gives her a snack.

__________________
wife and mom-- no other special labels. Just trying to do the best I can.

Wow-- all these "my husbands can't take care of my kids and house post" make me realize that I actually married a man that is a co-parent and not just another child. I am going to have to thank him when he gets home from work tonight.

Just because a husband isn't as good as managing the household as his wife doesn't mean he isn't a co-parent and is just another child. My DH can manage-the kids won't starve, they won't freeze to death, he knows how to thaw BM (when we were nursing) knows how to fix a bottle (now that the baby is on a special 24cal per oz mix) and can manage the cloth diapers no problem. I regularly leave him with all three small ones to grocery shop or run other errands, or to go spend the day with my mom.

But, for the last several years, he's been gone anywhere from 9 to 12 hours most weekdays and while he is home, I am usually home too. The reality is that he simply doesn't have as much experience at handling the house and small kids as I am. Just like someone with 15 years of engineering experience is usually better than someone with 2, someone with day in and day out experience with dealing with the house and kids is going to be better at it than someone who sees it a couple hours a day/week.

Just because a husband isn't as good as managing the household as his wife doesn't mean he isn't a co-parent and is just another child. My DH can manage-the kids won't starve, they won't freeze to death, he knows how to thaw BM (when we were nursing) knows how to fix a bottle (now that the baby is on a special 24cal per oz mix) and can manage the cloth diapers no problem. I regularly leave him with all three small ones to grocery shop or run other errands, or to go spend the day with my mom.

But, for the last several years, he's been gone anywhere from 9 to 12 hours most weekdays and while he is home, I am usually home too. The reality is that he simply doesn't have as much experience at handling the house and small kids as I am. Just like someone with 15 years of engineering experience is usually better than someone with 2, someone with day in and day out experience with dealing with the house and kids is going to be better at it than someone who sees it a couple hours a day/week.

I think we forget this. Taking care of all the children and getting stuff done when they're little does take some practice

I just got back from a 10 day vacation to ND. (I know, exciting, right?! That's where our family lives) He took vacation time and stayed home with all the kids. 6,4,2 and 15 month old twins.

He kept them all busy, made dinner, kept the house cleaner than I do, let them stay up late and eat cookies, made pretzels from scratch. I pretty much learned he's a better stay at home parent than I am. It was amazing. He also went grocery shopping once and to Best Buy once.

Lol, did you ask the kids how it went? When my DH watches the kids and also somehow keeps the house clean, usually it's because he's corralled the kids to only one room in the house at a time lol.

__________________ April; loving wife & momma to DD (7) & DS (5) and hoping for a few more babes to love...

I just got back from a 10 day vacation to ND. (I know, exciting, right?! That's where our family lives) He took vacation time and stayed home with all the kids. 6,4,2 and 15 month old twins.

He kept them all busy, made dinner, kept the house cleaner than I do, let them stay up late and eat cookies, made pretzels from scratch. I pretty much learned he's a better stay at home parent than I am. It was amazing. He also went grocery shopping once and to Best Buy once.

My DH is the same way. It's so annoying because when I get overwhelmed, he really doesn't understand. I took DD on a girls long weekend with my mom and sister. DH had the two boys for 3 full days. He cleaned the house, even shampooed the carpets, cooked all their meals, went shopping multiple times, even did some school work with them and fixed the car. I'm like, how did you do that?

i just asked dh to SIT with the sleeping two month old so that i can dye my hair.

he said, "i'm going to need an estimate as to how long this is going to take."
i said "about an hour."
him "-blank stare-"

just sit down and shut up. good lord. he has a clean diaper, he just got fed, he'll probably sleep the entire time, and i'm in the NEXT room! lord help us all if i actually decided to leave the house for a minute or two!

Amen to last line on leaving house. Mine is ok with older 2 but if I leave or say I'm going out...."oh u are taking baby too right?"....... ggggrrrrr....... how the heck do u swag then?

We have 3 & that enough for me all week 365 days a yr.

I don't know how my sis in law does it with soon to be 9 although most of the time out of the 8 currently she only has 6 of them as her ex has 2.